{"id":1785,"date":"2018-11-28T07:27:25","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T07:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2018\/11\/28\/when-syncopation-rocks-a-nation-hamilton-enthralls-fifth-graders-and-parents-with-a-rockin-story-of-history\/"},"modified":"2025-01-06T19:34:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T19:34:42","slug":"when-syncopation-rocks-a-nation-hamilton-enthralls-fifth-graders-and-parents-with-a-rockin-story-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2018\/11\/28\/when-syncopation-rocks-a-nation-hamilton-enthralls-fifth-graders-and-parents-with-a-rockin-story-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"When syncopation rocks a nation: “Hamilton” enthralls fifth-graders (and parents) with a rockin’ story of history"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
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One honey-glazed autumn afternoon, I watched a tangle of fifth-graders playing Capture the Flag in a park in Boise, Idaho. Their favorite soundtrack blared in the background:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Alexander Hamilton. My name is Alexander Hamilton.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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And there\u2019s a million things I haven\u2019t done.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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But just you wait, just you wait\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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The singer was, of course, Lin Manuel Miranda, author and star of hip-hop \u201cHamilton,\u201d the Broadway musical that has been selling out ever since its 2015 debut. I know, I know: I\u2019m way late to this party. The point is, I\u2019ve been dragged here by my 10-year-old son, who \u2013 along with the entire fifth grade of Roosevelt Elementary School \u00ad\u00ad\u2013 is curiously, profoundly obsessed with \u201cHamilton.\u201d And now I have these kids to thank for introducing me to one of the most brilliant pieces of narrative writing I have ever encountered.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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One day after school, my son Austin tugged on my elbow and said, \u201cHey Mama, listen to this!\u201d He then recited, from memory, without missing a beat, an entire song from Hamilton. This from a kid who has never listened to rap or shown any interest in theater. His obsessions are predictable 10-year-old boy obsessions: Legos, superheroes, riding bikes, and poking at things with sticks. Yet out of his mouth spilled this narrative scene<\/a> \u00ad\u2013 written entirely in dialogue \u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u2013 between Alexander Hamilton (the hero) and Aaron Burr (the sympathetic villain):<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Pardon me. Are you Aaron Burr, sir?<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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That depends. Who\u2019s asking?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Oh, well, sure, sir.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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I\u2019m Alexander Hamilton. I\u2019m at your service, sir.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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I have been looking for you<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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I\u2019m getting nervous\u2026<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Sir\u2026<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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I heard your name at Princeton.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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I was seeking an accelerated course of study\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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when I got sort of out-of-sorts with a buddy of yours.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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I may have punched him. It\u2019s a blur, sir. He handles the financials…\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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You punched the bursar?<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Yes! I wanted to do what you did. Graduate in two, then join the Revolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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He looked at me like I was stupid. I\u2019m not stupid.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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So how\u2019d you do it? How\u2019d you graduate so fast?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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It was my parents\u2019 dying wish before they passed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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You\u2019re an orphan. Of course! I\u2019m an orphan.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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God, I wish there was a war!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Then we could prove that we\u2019re worth more\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Than anyone bargained for.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Can I buy you a drink?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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That would be nice.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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While we\u2019re talking, let me offer you some free advice:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Talk less\u2026<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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What?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Smile more.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Ha.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Don\u2019t let them know what you\u2019re against or what you\u2019re for.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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You can\u2019t be serious.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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You wanna get ahead?<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Fools who run their mouths off wind up dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Once I recovered from the twitterpation of hearing my kid rapping about 19th<\/sup>-century American history, I realized just what I was hearing: next-level narrative craftsmanship.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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This quippy exchange does a ton of heavy lifting. It introduces the hero and the villain. It develops their characters with important backstory: they\u2019re both orphans; both college-educated; both poised on the brink of the American Revolution. It foreshadows the clashing philosophies that underpin their rivalry: Hamilton wants to take a stand and fight; Burr demurs, preferring to avoid conflict. This motif resurfaces throughout the story.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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I realized just what I was hearing: next-level narrative craftsmanship.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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That\u2019s a lot to accomplish in one scene. Miranda does it in 203 words\u2026of pure dialogue.<\/em> Check it out: There\u2019s no expository backstory. No character description. No scene-setting. Granted, if you were sitting in a Broadway theater, you\u2019d witness those elements playing out visually on stage. But I first listened to \u201cHamilton\u201d while staring through my windshield on a two-day drive, and I swear I saw 3D characters dancing across the lonely Wyoming highway.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Maybe I just needed more coffee. But I\u2019ll bet you two ten-dollar bills it\u2019s because writing is the real star of \u201cHamilton.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Take the rhythm. The language is filled with alliterative tap-dancing and literal cadence that ranges from old-school Shakespearean meter (It was my parents dying wish before they passed<\/em>) to something more modern, like literary step-dancing<\/a> (Then we could prove that we\u2019re worth more than anyone bargained for<\/em>). Bang out that last line on a mental snare drum. Hear the syncopation?<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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The rhyming schemes are just as deft. Miranda’s rhymes are like card tricks, and he employs every trick in the book: internal rhyme<\/a> (put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain<\/em>); alliteration<\/a> (meddling in the middle of a military mess<\/em>); assonance<\/a> (pick a place to die where it\u2019s high and dry<\/em>); consonance<\/a> (revolutionary manumission abolitionists<\/em>). Or, in the case of this tongue-twistery tirade by Thomas Jefferson, all of the freakin\u2019 above:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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I\u2019m in the cabinet. I am complicit in<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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watching him\u00a0grabbing\u2019 at power and kiss it<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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if\u00a0Washington isn\u2019t\u00a0gone\u2019 listen<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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to disciplined dissidents, this is the difference:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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this kid is out!<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Sparring characters complete each other\u2019s couplets, sometimes in the very act of cutting each other off. Listen to this debate between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, arguing over American involvement in the impending war between France and England:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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We\u2019re too fragile to start another fight.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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But sir, do we not fight for freedom?<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Sure, when the French figure out who\u2019s gonna lead \u2018em.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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The people are leading\u2014<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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The people are rioting.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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There\u2019s a difference.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Frankly, it\u2019s a little disquieting<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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you would let your ideals blind you to reality.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Hamilton\u2026<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Sir?<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Draft the statement of neutrality.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Unspoken rhymes dangle in the missing beat of an unfinished sentence. Like this one, as Hamilton reads an extortive letter from his mistress\u2019s cuckold husband:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Dear Sir, I hope this finds you in good health <\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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and in a prosperous enough position to put wealth<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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in the pockets of people like me: down on their luck.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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You see, that was my wife who you decided to\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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(See: Hero\u2019s Journey, Stage 8\u2014Temptation<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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I\u2019ve listened to the soundtrack all the way through several times, initially forced by my son and his friends, and later of my own volition. It\u2019s like re-reading Shakespeare, or mining Tolstoy. Each revisit teases out a new layer of meaning, wordplay and craft. I\u2019m a shameless fan of paranomasia, but Miranda elevates the pun from its unsung reputation as the \u201clowest form of humor.\u201d In trying to define his double entendres, I\u2019ve learned all sorts of new technical terms: syllepsis<\/a>, zeugma<\/a>, paraprosdokian<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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It\u2019s like re-reading Shakespeare, or mining Tolstoy.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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It took me several listens to fully appreciate Hamilton\u2019s narrative architecture. The story structure is braided together with motifs \u2013 both melodic and lyrical<\/a> \u2013 that converge in a spectacular mashup at the end of Non-Stop<\/a>, the final song in Act I. The main refrain, \u201cI am not throwing away my shot!\u201d<\/em> evolves, meaning one thing in the beginning and something very different by the end.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Linguistic gymnastics aside, here\u2019s Hamilton\u2019s dopest trick of all: getting fifth-graders pumped about history and politics \u2013 two subjects I dreaded at that age.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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These kids are not just grooving on the music; they\u2019re actually grasping the politics. In two \u201ccabinet battles,\u201d Hamilton and Jefferson debate fundamental governmental issues in a rap-battle that makes heckling an art form. Cabinet Battle #1<\/a> is, in the words of my fifth-grade son, \u201cabout Hamilton\u2019s new form of government, and whether that made sense.\u201d I probed: What exactly does that mean? \u201cAssume state debts,\u201d Austin said without looking up from his Legos. Cabinet Battle #2<\/a> is about \u201cwhether we should help France,\u201d and contains one of his (okay, our<\/em>) favorite riffs in the whole musical:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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We signed a treaty with a king whose head is now in a basket.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Would you like to take it out and ask it?<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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\u201cShould we honor our treaty, King Louis\u2019 head?\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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\u201cUh\u2026do whatever you want, I\u2019m super dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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I wondered if this fifth-grade obsession was a phenomenon unique to Roosevelt Elementary, our tiny public school in Boise, Idaho. I assume most of these kids have not seen the musical (the nearest traveling show was four-and-a-half hours away, in Salt Lake City). Yet they\u2019re writing history reports on Hamilton, dressing up like him for Halloween, and inflicting upon teachers and parents this revolutionary earworm.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Turns out, it\u2019s not just Roosevelt grooving on \u201cHamilton.\u201d Fellow parents in other fly-over states confirmed: their fifth graders are into it, too. Why? Because fifth grade is when social studies classes cover the American Revolution. While some teachers may be jumping on this opportunity (see: The English Teacher\u2019s Guide to the Hamilton Musical<\/a>), it appears most kids are discovering it on their own.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u201cOnly great works of literature have this many layers.\u201d <\/p>~\u00a0Samantha Harvey, professor of English, Boise State University<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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“I wonder if children are attracted to its underdog storyline?\u201d mused Samantha Harvey, a fellow Roosevelt mom and a tenured English professor at Boise State University. \u201cThe coming-of-age story \u2013 Hamilton coming to the U.S., finding his friends and his purpose \u2013 might perfectly resonate with fifth graders navigating their social worlds and their first introduction to their<\/em> government: democracy led by the people (and their peers).”<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Harvey and I met through our sons; Austin and Leo are classmates. While living in Boston on an East Coast fellowship, she took Leo\u2019s sister to see the show on Broadway when Delphi was 12. (Leo declined, but now says he kind of regrets it.) Delphi came home obsessed, and Harvey impressed \u2013 not only with the performance, but the way it engages minds of all ages.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u201cBy turning the congressional debate into a rap battle, it is a truly democratic exercise of blending formal government with the voice of the people,\u201d she wrote in an email over Thanksgiving. Wielding a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University, Harvey can declare with more authority than I: \u201cOnly great works of literature have this many layers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Word!<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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This Halloween, Thor, a fifth-grader at Roosevelt Elementary in Boise, Idaho, dressed as his favorite super-hero: Hamilton Thor and Thor’s mom<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
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Austin swears he\u2019s \u201cnot obsessed\u201d with \u201cHamilton.\u201d But I hear him rapping himself to sleep at night. He was introduced to \u201cHamilton\u201d by another classmate, Thor, who loves soccer, basketball, and Legos. Thor Trick-or-Treated as the founding father and tosses beanbags at a corn-hole game he painted with the \u201cHamilton\u201d logo. It was Thor\u2019s birthday wish to play Capture the Flag while listening to his favorite tunes.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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I asked Thor how he got into \u201cHamilton.\u201d \u201cFriends,\u201d he said. Rap and hip hop weren\u2019t really his jam, but there was something about \u201cHamilton\u201d he found irresistible. \u201cI started listening to it,\u201d he said, \u201cand I couldn\u2019t stop listening to it.\u201d Thor had the soundtrack memorized by the time his mother took him to see the musical in Las Vegas last June. \u201cI loved the writing, the rhyming, and the choreography,\u201d he told me. As a pleasant side effect, he retained more than a little history. \u201cI used to get the Civil War and the American Revolution mixed up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Kim Cross’ son asked for a “Hamilton” themed pumpkin this Halloween. She happily carved. Kim Cross<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
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\u201cHamilton\u201d shows the power of storytelling to bring history to life in the minds of kids. It is a masterpiece adults should study for its Olympic-level craftsmanship. What can we as narrative nonfiction writers learn from this and apply to our own writing? That there\u2019s always more to learn, and it can come from anywhere. And thanks to my son, I can say this:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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There\u2019s a million things I haven\u2019t done.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n \n

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Carving Alexander Hamilton into a pumpkin?<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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(Wait for it\u2026)<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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No longer one of \u2019em.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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